Marauder Christmas
by Owliness
Summary: The Marauders are staying at the Potter's for Christmas. Set around 5/6th year  they are Animagi. No real plot, no pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is my first story on fan fiction :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All credit goes to J.K. Rowling.  
**

The Marauders' were spending the Christmas holidays at the Potters, they had only arrived from the Hogwarts Express the day before and they were all tired from the train ride. It was the first time they had all stayed together for Christmas away from Hogwarts. Currently, three of the four boys were asleep - however Sirius Black had a mischievous grin on his face as he moved silently over to where his best friend, James Potter, was sleeping soundly.

Sirius quickly cast a silencing charm on James before shaking him awake. Wordlessly, Sirius handed James his glasses and gestured to their still – sleeping friends. A grin similar to Sirius's quickly spread over his face as he realized what he was doing. Sirius removed the charm on James, and together they moved to their friends, the werewolf Remus Lupin's bed.

"On three" mouthed Sirius, and James nodded. "One… two… three" They jumped on either side of Remus's bed, while yelling WAKE UP MOONY!" as loud as they could. The boy jumped about a foot in the air and glared at his two best friends, who were both grinning like idiots. "Very funny" Remus told them sarcastically. They looked at each other and Remus groaned - he knew that look.

They moved over to where their fourth friend, Peter Pettigrew, was sleeping. He had somehow stayed asleep through the noise that James and Sirius had made. As Remus buried his head in the pillow to try and protect his ears, they yelled "WAKE UP WORMTAIL!", while jumping on his bed as they had been when they woke up Remus.

"What time is it James?" asked Peter groggily.

"Umm… Sirius" James turned to his friend to answer.

He laughed. "I believe it is currently 5 o'clock in the morning Prongsie" said Sirius grinning.

"Why on Earth did you wake us up at 5 in the morning Padfoot?" groaned Remus as he flopped back down onto his mattress.

"A prank of course!" said Sirius, who was practically bouncing on the spot by this point. James's eyes lit up immediately, and Remus groaned again. His two best friends were among the most well known pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen.

"What should we do…" pondered James as he went back to sit on his bed with Sirius following him. Remus and Peter both got up as well, and soon the four of them were sitting on James's bed, discussing possible pranks.

"It will be at Hogwarts of course… the Teachers, Slytherin or the School?"

"It will be the teachers, defiantly. It's been ages since we pranked them. Speaking of them, did you see their faces when then realised we were leaving for the Christmas holidays?"

"Ages being a week Padfoot, and yes, their faces were rather funny."

"That was the whole school, not the teachers Moony. Now we need ideas…"

The planning continued for awhile, but with no good plan being made. Their meeting was broken up by Mrs Potter yelling "Breakfast!" form the kitchen.

"Food!" said Sirius at once before he jumped off the bed and bounded down the stairs, closely followed by James. Remus and Peter looked at each other and rolled their eyes before following their friends down the stairs to the kitchen.

**0o0o0o0**

After a large breakfast of pancakes, Mrs Potter asked the boys if they had done their Christmas shopping yet. All of them shook their heads.  
"Well why don't you do that today?" She asked before waving her wand at the dishes casing them to fly into the sink and begin washing themselves.

They agreed, and so an hour later they were all lined up at the fireplace ready to leave. "Be back here at 6." Mrs Potter told them. "Sure Mum." replied James as he took a handful of Floo Powder and stepped in to the fireplace, yelling "Diagon Alley!" The other boys copied him, and soon they were all standing in the bright sunlight of Diagon Alley.

James ran his hand through his already messy black hair as he turned to his friends and asked what they wanted to do. Sirius replied "since were shopping for each other, shouldn't we split up for a bit?" They all agreed. "Meet up outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor in an hour?" suggested and Remus and they all nodded before heading off in different directions.

**Hehe, my spell check doesn't like names much. Please review and tell me what you think, or if I made any mistakes. I tried not too :S Also if this is the right rating, I'm not sure about that.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: So this chapter is just them buying presents for each other.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter  
**

* * *

**James**

As he walked through the crowded streets of Diagon Alley, James was scanning the shop windows for gifts he could give his friends. As he walked past Flourish & Blotts he thought of Remus, and how he had wanted this book…  
James ducked quickly into the shop, and found Sirius there, looking at a display of books for sale. Sirius had looked around at the sound of bell over the door, and now he greeted James before turning back to the books. James hurried over and began searching the book titles for one he knew Remus wanted. While Sirius wandered off to another part of the shop, James continued to search in the 'dark creatures' section. He soon found a book that seemed perfect for Remus – _Creatures of the Night. _Flicking through it, he noticed that it had a large, detailed section on werewolves. Smiling to himself, he went up to the counter to pay for the book. After thanking the assistant, he walked out of the dark shop and continued to look for the remaining presents.

When he walked past a shop selling quills, he thought of Peter, who had always struggled with his spelling. James entered the quiet shop and bought his friend several spell-checking quills. He then walked to a sweetshop and bought some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans for Peter, as well as various chocolates for Remus and a variety of sweets for Sirius. Now he had only one problem left – what to get his best friend.

After walking the length of Diagon Alley and not finding anything that reminded him of his best friend, James was getting desperate. He decided to go into muggle London and look for a gift there. With half an hour until he was to meet up with his friends, he went to Gringotts to exchange some money before leaving through the Leaky Cauldron. Now he had a whole new selection of shops to look at.

James set off down the street, looking in the shop windows like he had in Diagon Alley. Having never taken Muggle Studies* at school, he didn't know what a lot of this stuff that he saw was. Eventually, he came across what appeared to be a pet store. Thinking of Sirius's animagus form, he entered and headed over to the dog aisle. There he found a large range of toys, treats, care products and accessories. James wandered over to the health care and looked at the range of toothbrushes, brushes and… flea collars. James burst out laughing as he saw the collars, remembering Sirius complaining about fleas while he was his dog form, and earned many strange looked from the other customers. James soon calmed down enough to find the right size for his friend and went to the cashier to pay before leaving the shop and heading back to Diagon Alley to meet his friends.

* * *

**Sirius**

After the group broke up, Sirius headed off down Diagon Alley. Thinking first of James, he wandered down to Quality Quidditch Supplies – he knew it was James favourite shop. Looking around inside, he saw the large range of broomsticks and equipment that made it a favourite stop of Quidditch supporters. As he browsed through the shop, he remembered that James's gloves that he wore when playing or training were almost worn out. He began to look carefully at the gloves on offer. Deciding on a pair of gold gloves that would look good with James's Quidditch robes, he paid and left the shop, thinking one down, two to go.

As he was walking out, Remus strolled over to him. They stopped to chat for a bit, and Sirius warned him against buying James gloves as he himself just had. Remus nodded and they went in different directions.

The next shop that caught his eye was Flourish & Blotts. Thinking that he could find the perfect gift for Remus inside the bookstore, he walked through the door. There were shelves of books in there and as he had always spent as little time as possible near books he was slightly lost inside. Glancing around, Sirius noticed the Magical Creatures section. Knowing his friend enjoyed learning about both his "furry little problem" and other creatures, there was a good chance that there would be something here. As he looked over the book titles, James walked in. They greeted each other and Sirius turned back to the books while James walked over and joined him. Thinking that he had checked most of the books in the section, he ambled over to the hexes and curses section and began to look there. Hearing the bell over the door ring he realized that James had found what he was looking for and left.

The shop assistant walked over to him and asked "Can I help you?" she was a pretty girl, with straight brown hair and green eyes. "I'm looking for a book for a friend, he's smart and enjoys reading" replied Sirius, turning away from the shelves.  
"We have many books on spells, magical plants and creatures…" the girl explained, and Sirius listened attentively as she suggested different books. "My personal favourite is this one - _Charms, Curses and Counter-Curses. _It's got a great selection of the more unusual charms" said the girl smiling.  
"Sounds perfect" said Sirius, smiling back at her. He paid for the book and left the shop. He now had about fifteen minutes to get a present for Peter before meeting his friends.

Once again walking down the street looking for presents, the shop window of Gambol and Japes caught his eye. Entering the shop, he bought a large selection of pranking materials for his last friend.

As he had finished his shopping for his friends, Sirius strolled lazily down Diagon Alley, glancing in the shop windows, and was the first to arrive outside the ice cream parlour.

* * *

**Peter**

After saying goodbye to his friends, Peter scurried off to look for presents. His first stop was at Flourish & Blotts to buy a present for Remus. After searching through the books on offer he found one that would make a good present for his friend. He paid for the book and left the bookstore.

With three quarters of an hour until he was due to meet up with his friends, Peter took his time in searching for his remaining presents. When he was outside the joke shop, he ran into Remus, who was also about to enter the shop. They stopped to chat for a minute or two before entering the building.

Once they were inside, they headed off to separate sections. Remus went to the books and planning section, with Peter went to the section selling the practical joke items. He spent a good deal of time searching through the items for sale, about halfway through he heard Remus leave the shop. In the end, he collected a wide assortment of joke items for both James and Sirius, and went to meet his friends.

Upon arriving at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, he saw that Sirius was the only one that had finished his shopping, and went to join him in waiting for their remaining friends to arrive.

* * *

**Remus**

Remus waved goodbye to his friends and walked down the wide street of Diagon Alley. He wasn't in a hurry; he had plenty of time before the marauders had decided to meet up. He wandered towards Quality Quidditch Supplies in the hope of finding a gift for either James or Sirius. Outside, he met Sirius, who was leaving. They talked for a few minutes, and Sirius showed him the present that he had gotten for James, a new pair of gloves.

Soon after, they said goodbye, and Remus entered the crowded shop. He went to the training section of the shop, and looked at the range of equipment available. He looked at the different training kits available for beaters, and eventually chose an accuracy kit. After paying, he left the shop that was a favourite of many young witches and wizards.

Remus walked up to the joke shop, on the way he passed Flourish and Blotts, and he saw Sirius inside, talking to a assistant, who was showing him different books. Slightly worried about what his friend would end up getting him, Remus reached the shop that he had originally been heading too, and finding Peter already there. They stopped to talk before entering and heading to different areas. Remus went to the books section, but there was a relatively small selection, and he soon left without purchasing a present.

Hurrying now, he entered a small pet shop selling food and toys for unusual animals. Once inside, he went to the "large creatures" area, and saw that there was a small collection of accessories for deer. Remus burst out laughing, thinking of James's animagus form; he chose a set of small silver-coloured bells that were to put on antlers as a decoration. Still chuckling slightly, he bought the bells and left.

His last stop before meeting his friends was the sweetshop, where he bought a selection for Peter, and a smaller one for James, as the bells hadn't cost him much.

Pleased with his purchases, Remus left the shop and went to meet his friends. Sirius and Peter were already there and waiting, but James hadn't finished yet.

James arrived soon after, grinning and out of breath. The four friends spent the next couple of hours wandering around Diagon Alley to complete their Christmas shopping for their families and friends not part of the Marauders.

It didn't take them long, and soon they had lined up at the fireplace, and returned to the Potter manor, only 15 minutes after they were supposed to be back.

_*I don't know if he did or not, so for the sake of this story, he didn't take muggle studies :)_

**Thanks to the people who read this story :)**

**The original idea for this story came up in a conversation with one of my friends (Magikspeedos), with the flea collar for Sirius while we were waiting for our buses. Then, I wrote the story, most of which has nothing to do with it Magik.**

**Also, I'm Aussie. Therefore some words appear to be spelled wrong for some people. Sorry :|  
**

**Thanks for reading :)  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Late on Christmas morning at the Potter Mansion showed a strange scene in the Marauder's bedroom. The two black haired boys had identical grins on their faces as they each moved to one of their friend's beds. When James Potter was close to where Remus Lupin, the boy who was 'asleep' opened his eyes and shook his head, indicating that he was already awake.

Meanwhile, Sirius Black was standing near the head of Peter Pettigrew, who was still sleeping peacefully. Glancing around the room he saw that both James and Remus were watching him, waiting for the wake-up call he was about to give Peter. Sirius crouched before leaping onto Peter and landing on the boy's stomach.

Peter woke with a start when he felt something jump on him. Or someone, he realized when he opened his eyes and saw Sirius lying on him laughing his head off and Remus and James out of his eyesight, also laughing.  
"Sirius" Peter said, trying, and failing to get his friends attention.  
"SIRIUS!" yelled Peter.  
This time it worked and Sirius calmed himself down enough to ask "yes?"  
"Get off me?" It sounded like a question.  
Sirius just looked at him blankly then started to laugh again. Peter groaned and looked to his other friends for help. Together, they picked Sirius up and dropped him on the floor.  
Sirius yelped, and glared at his friends who were laughing again. "What was that for?"  
"You were lying on Peter" explained Remus, who was still smiling.

There was a knock on the door of the room, and Mrs. Potter's voice reached their ears. "Breakfast will be in 15 minutes. Get dressed." They did as she suggested, and soon they were all eating breakfast in the kitchen, although Sirius was still glaring at his friends and rubbing the arm that he fell on.

This did not go unnoticed by Mrs. Potter who asked "are you alright dear?"  
"They thought it would be funny to drop me on the floor" said Sirius, pointing at James, who wasn't even attempting to hide his laughter and Remus who was trying unsuccessfully to hide his smile behind his hand.  
"Sirius, you forgot to add the part about you jumping on me and not getting off" added Peter, who was feeling a bit sore from Sirius's landing on him. James laughed harder, while Remus shook his head. "We" he said - indicating James and himself - "pulled Sirius off Peter because he was getting crushed, but dropped him on the floor." Mrs Potter seemed to be holding back a smile. "Do I really want to know?" she asked the boys.  
"No" replied Sirius and James in unison.  
By now they had all finished eating. The boys went upstairs to exchange their presents.

* * *

The Marauders had a ritual for the gift-giving on Christmas Day. They would sit in a circle, and pass the gifts to one person at a time. They would change to order ever year.

"Here you go Remus" said James, handing him two neatly wrapped packages. Remus took them, looking slightly wary of the boxes from his friend, who had been know to give trick packages that exploded, showering unsuspecting people with glitter or slime. However, when he cautiously opened them, he found nothing out of the ordinary, and thanked James for the book and the chocolate.

"MOONY!" yelled Sirius in Remus's ear "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"  
"Stop yelling in my ear!" exclaimed Remus, rubbing his ears and wincing as he glared at his friend, who had an unconvincing 'innocent' look on his face.  
"I didn't though" lying had never been a strong point for Sirius and now was no exception. Remus sighed and accepted the wrapped package that Sirius was holding out for him. After unwrapping it and finding the book on spells, he thanked the dog animagus and turned to Peter, who was also holding a package that was the shape of a book.

He unwrapped the gift, noticing that it was considerably less well wrapped then his Sirius's and James's had been. Thanking Peter for the book, he pulled out his own packages for the next persons gift giving.

As Peter was sitting on Remus right hand side, he was next in line. He accepted the sweets, quills and joke items happily, he always liked Christmas with the Marauders.

James was next in line and by now was almost bouncing on the spot with excitement.

"Here you go James" said Peter, passing the shoddily wrapped package containing joke items to his friend, who ripped off the paper eagerly. "Thanks!" yelled James, examining the selection and already starting to plan what he could do with them.

Sirius was next to give his present, and did so silently, but with a grin that told all his friends that he was planning something. When James took the package, Sirius muttered something under his breath, and a voice screamed "MERRY CHRISTMAS JAMES!" as louder than they thought possible for anything to speak. They all jumped in the air except for Sirius, who was laughing again. Sometimes James thought that all Sirius did was laugh and smile. Shaking his head to stop the ringing in his ears, James pulled off the paper revealing a new pair of Quidditch gloves.  
"Thanks Sirius" said James, louder then he normally would as he still couldn't hear properly.  
"No problem mate" replied Sirius, looking amused at something.

Remus was the last to give James his present, he was grinning in a way that was unusual for him, and James took the packages slightly wary.

First, he opened the package containing sweets, and he thanked Remus, noting that there were all his favourites contained in the mixed package.

When he picked up the second, smaller package, he gave Remus a questioning look, because he thought he hear the faint sound of bells coming from inside. Noticing that Sirius was also looking at the present oddly, he pulled the paper off in one swift motion. There was a set of bells inside; the label said "Decorate you antlers - the new fashion for deer!" James stared at Remus for a second before he started laughing, along with Sirius, Peter and Remus.  
"Thanks… Moony…" choked out James through his laughter.

When they had calmed down sufficiently, they resumed their exchange of gifts. Sirius was the only person remaining, and Peter was the first to give his present. When he opened it, he found a supply of materials similar to James's. They exchanged a look. Next term was going to be fun.

The next person to give their present was Remus, who handed him a package that looked suspiciously like a book.  
"It's not a book" said Remus, correctly interpreting his friend's expression "Merry Christmas Sirius."

He opened it and found an accuracy kit for his beater practice. "THANKS MATE!" said Sirius enthusiastically, yelling in Remus ear again. Remus winced, and glared at Sirius. "Stop yelling in my ear Sirius."

Last was James and he handed over the neatly wrapped gift with a surprisingly normal "Happy Christmas". Sirius looked at him slightly suspiciously as he opened the range of chocolates similar to Peter's. He thanked James, and picked up the small package and opened it. Out of the paper fell a muggle flea collar? Sirius glanced at James and started laughing, he couldn't help himself. Once again the four boys were lying on the floor laughing at a present given.

When they had calmed down enough to talk, Sirius acted hurt.  
"Does this mean I have fleas?" he asked in a mock-injured voice.  
"Yep" replied James, playing along.  
Sirius gave a dramatic gasp. "I'm shocked! This is coming from… the king of fleas!"  
James and Sirius looked at each other and burst out laughing again. Remus soon joined in, realising from the start that they were joking while Peter relaxed, having thought that they really were fighting.

Their gift-giving ceremony ended, and they spent the rest of the morning talking and eating some of the sweets given as gifts.

Later, they went downstairs and had a magnificent Christmas lunch, with a huge turkey and everything that went with it. The Marauders spent the rest of the day with Mr and Mrs Potter, exchanging gifts and talking. After a light dinner, they went to bed and fell asleep almost instantly, exhausted by the day's events.

**AN: This hasn't been checked through, I did my best but I probably missed quite a bit.**

**Thanks for reading :)  
**


	4. Epilouge

**A short poem to finish.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

The next full moon over Hogwarts showed a strange scene. Four creatures walked together.

A Stag, with bells chiming, walked on.  
A Wolf, eyes darting around, walked too., just  
A Dog, with a collar for fleas, walked next.  
A Rat, smallest of them all, walked last.

**AN: The end of my first story on here :) This is a poem about the marauders. It doesn't really have much to do with the story, and I'm really bad a writing poems. Now my AN is almost longer then the chapter.**

**Thanks for reading!  
**


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